From Princesses and Pirates to Ghosts and Ghoulies, Halloween is by far one of the most fun nights of the year for our kids, right? Getting to dress up and use your wildest imaginations to be whatever you want is awesome! Walking around the neighborhood on foot with a group of friends, bucket in hand, collecting that chocolate-covered goodness is the height of kid-dom. And if the parents don’t take too much of a “candy tax” for walking with their little ones, that candy could last for weeks or months to come! A season-long sugar rush! Wait…why do we encourage our kids to participate in this holiday?

But with all this imagination, fun and sugar, there are some important things we all need to remember as well. As kids take to the streets in cute and scary costume-covered droves, the potential for pedestrian accidents also goes way up. On average, twice as many kids are hit and killed by cars between the hours of 4pm and 10pm on Halloween compared to the same timeframe on any other day of the year, according to Safe Kids Worldwide. What a scary statistic!

We want all our kids to be as safe as possible so here are some important tips when planning Halloween festivities.

• AdultSupervision – children should always be accompanied or supervised by parents or other responsible adults at all times.

• SidewalksandCrosswalks– stay on sidewalks and use crosswalks as much as possible and obey all traffic signals.

• StayinYourGroup – stay together in a group with at least one adult.

• CostumeRecommendations – avoid costumes that could cause children to trip, such as baggy pants, long hems, high heels, and oversized shoes.

• Flashlights – take flashlights with you while trick-or-treating as visibility decreases significantly well before it gets dark.

We hope you and your kids have a spooky fun time collecting all the goodies. And as always, prevention is the best way to keep our kids safe this Halloween! If you’re out driving on Halloween, take it slow around the neighborhood.

But if anything ever happens to your child, we want you to focus solely on their care. We can handle all the legal aspects so you don’t have to. If you have any questions, you can contact me either at the office or on my cell (954)854-1920.